Heat getting to the basket, but not getting many foul calls. Why?

PHOENIX — The Heat are getting to the basket, they just aren’t getting many foul calls.

Miami entered Wednesday ranked second in the NBA with 56.3 drives per game this season, but last in foul calls with just 4.1 percent of its drives ending with a whistle. The Heat also finished last season with the lowest foul rate on drive attempts at 10.7 percent. How can this be explained?

“There’s no way to explain it other than we just have to continue being aggressive playing our game,” Spoelstra said in advance of Wednesday night’s game against the Suns. “… In terms of whether the officials are calling it or not, we can’t control that.

“We have very aggressive drivers. We have guys that don’t flop, that don’t use savvy tricks to draw fouls. Our guys are head-down, shoulders-into-you kind of drivers. But we don’t need the officials to help us offensively. When we’re executing with intent and keeping our turnovers down, our offense has shown to be very good.”

Goran Dragic #7 of the Miami Heat drives on Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena on November 6, 2017 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

One way to explain it is that a lot of the Heat’s drives aren’t ending with a shot attempt. Miami’s drive-and-kick offense has it passing on a league-high 38 percent of its drives to the basket.

Heat point guard Goran Dragic is the perfect example of the team’s struggles when it comes to drawing fouls. Among those who have played in five or more games and are averaging 12 or more drives, Dragic owns the NBA’s lowest foul rate on drive attempts at 3.2 percent.

“We just need to stick with our identity,” Dragic said. “We still need to attack. We are at our best when we’re in the paint. Sooner or later, we’re going to get some calls. We just have to stay on that course.”